Space group

From Online Dictionary of Crystallography

The symmetry group of a three-dimensional crystal pattern is called its space group. In E2, the symmetry group of a two-dimensional crystal pattern is called its plane group. In E1, the symmetry group of a one-dimensional crystal pattern is called its line group.

To each crystal pattern belongs an infinite set of translations T, which are symmetry operations of that pattern. The set of all T forms a group known as the translation subgroup T of the space group G of the crystal pattern. T is an Abelian group and a normal subgroup of the space group.